Post navigation

The stitched example, Kansas Highway 7, is part of the Glacial Hills Scenic Byway also designated as part of the official route of the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail.

The sunflower pattern is easily one of the most interesting state highway signs in the United States. Many state highway signs feature plain squares or circles, but the folks in Kansas showed a little creativity when they generated this design.

The stitched example, Highway 182, is a part of the Louisiana Bayou Byway, a scenic route between New Orleans and Lafayette. The website MyScenicDrives describes the Byway as “bayous, birds, and beignets.”

This Montana cross stitch pattern and kit are now available in my Etsy shop!

The pattern is based on a Montana Secondary Road sign. The standard Montana Highway sign (shown at right) is a bit plain, so I thought this Secondary Road sign with it’s cool arrowhead pattern would make a much more interesting cross stitch pattern.

I can easily customize this pattern for any of your favorite Montana roads! MyScenicDrives has good information about Montana.

[Montana Highway Signs by Jimmy Emerson, DVM, via Flickr]

[Road leading from Bozeman Montana, winding through the Bridger Mountains by Kim Tasjian via Flickr]

[Looking north towards Ennis, Montana along US 287 by Madison76 via Flickr]

[Glacier National Park by Lue Huang via Flickr]

Create a reminder of a favorite drive in Big Sky Country with this Montana cross stitch pattern and kit!

The stitched example, Interstate 80, is a 2900 mile route that runs from San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey. Along the way, it also passes through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

I must say that I am most familiar with I-80 from where it meets I-76 on the western Nebraska border to Newton, Iowa. Many hours of my youth were spent on long road trips from Denver to Omaha to Newton and then back to Denver, visiting family during summer vacations.

I am also very familiar with the stretch of I-80 between Vacaville and Davis, California. In my previous career, I worked on a the construction of pharmaceutical factory in Vacaville. Vacaville was a nice town, but the really good restaurants were in the fun college town of Davis, about 20 miles away.

The entire Interstate Highway System is an impressive feat of engineering. Started in 1956, the network now has a total length of 47,856 miles. It goes through some truly spectacular scenery – a couple of my favorites are I-70 between Green River and it’s junction with I-15,

[Sun Ray by Arunas Sileika via Flickr]

and the tiny stretch of I-15 in Arizona between St. George, Utah, and Mesquite, Nevada through the Virgin River Canyon.

After 10 days, 8 of which were on the road, and 3300 miles we reached Brooklyn, NY, the gateway to the next part of our adventure (more trip info here).

The drive from Southern California to Las Vegas is terribly uninteresting (except for the new Ivanpah Solar Power Project for us engineers), but after you pass Vegas, the geology and scenery start to get more intriguing.

I-15 passes through the northwest corner of Arizona, and there the road winds through the beautiful Virgin River Canyon.

[Interstate 15 Arizona by Antonio Rino Gastaldi via Flickr]

Note: You’ll have to pardon me for using many photos from Flickr. Most of the time, my simple camera just can’t do justice to the awesome scenery in front of it.

Just past St. George on the Arizona/Utah border, instead of continuing on I-15 N, we cut over toward Zion National Park and the charming little town of Springdale.

[Springdale, the entrance of Zion National Park by Marijke Clabots via Flickr]

From there we went north on US 89, which is a really great stretch of road, until we hit I-70 East.

At this point I should clarify that if we have the time, my husband and I vastly prefer driving on smaller roads rather than big 4-6 lane highways. You get to see much more of the character of the country on the “blue highways” rather than the more intense and less scenic US Interstates and European Motorways. However, when we have limited time and lots of miles to cover as we did now, we use the bigger roads.

To a geologist, I-70 in Utah is a real treat to behold. The rock formations are truly spectacular, and Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches National Parks are close. It really, truly, does look like this from the road:

[Black Dragon Valley by arbyreed via Flickr]

Shortly after you cross into Colorado, you go through Grand Junction, which has some beautiful mesas.

To appeal to the engineers is the rest of I-70 to Denver, the most interesting part of which I think is near Glenwood Canyon. The eastbound and westbound lanes are two separate roads, which sometimes overlap each other. In the photo below, from left you see a train line, the river, a bike path, the eastbound lanes below and the westbound lanes above. It makes for great viewing if you’re a passenger.

[I-70 in Glenwood Springs Canyon by Josh Hope via Flickr]

The rest of I-70 into Denver is a pretty drive as well, going over the steep Vail Pass at 10,662 feet, passing through the Eisenhower Tunnel, and then easing gradually down through Georgetown and Idaho Springs.

Unfortunately, that’s most of the truly remarkable scenery in this first update. From the Interstates, the Colorado plains and western Nebraska generally look like this,

eastern Nebraska and Iowa generally look like this,

Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio generally look like this,

and eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey generally look like this.

Then, all of a sudden, the trees are gone, and you’re in the middle of a dense urban jungle of warehouses, streets, and potholes, looking at the south end of Manhattan. From there to Brooklyn is a blur of tunnels and construction projects probably best left to the imagination… except that we did drive right by the base of the nearly completed One World Trade Center Tower, and that is impressive.

[Summer on the West Side Highway (September 2011) by Rob Gross via Flickr]

We’re in Brooklyn for a few days until the next part of Le Big Trip begins. Stay tuned!

(Here’s a link to the previous Update 0. And here’s the link to the next episode, Update 2)

This Utah cross stitch pattern and kit are the latest in my series of state highway road signs that are now available in my Etsy shop!State Route 9 includes a drive through the stunning scenery of Zion National Park. I’ve been lucky enough to pass through this park a number of times – it is truly spectacular!

[(One of the views from Route 9) Zion National Park by Bachspics via Flickr]

[(Highway 9 through) Zion National Park by Hanneorla via Flickr]

Photos really can’t capture all the beauty of Zion National Park. I truly hope that you get to see this place for yourself!

Whether you’re an Utahn, a frequent visitor, or just a fan of the state, this Utah cross stitch pattern and kit would be a great way to create a reminder of a favorite drive or place in “The Beehive State.”

This Georgia cross stitch pattern and kit are the latest in my series of state highway road signs that are now available in my Etsy shop!State Road 16 is a roughly 180 mile stretch of road running east/west through Georgia, part of which is included in the Historic Piedmont Scenic Byway.

I can easily customize this pattern for any of your favorite Georgia state roads, and there are some beautiful drives in the state.

[Scenic Road in Blue Ridge, GA by Clay Garrett via Flickr]

[North Oconee River by Alan Cressler via Flickr]

Whether you’re a Georgian, a frequent visitor, or just a fan of the state, this Georgia cross stitch pattern and kit would be a great way to create a reminder of a favorite drive or place in “The Peach State”

This New Mexico cross stitch pattern and kit are the latest in my series of state highway road signs that are now available in my Etsy shop!

With Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up, my blogging has taken a bit of a back seat in the midst of all my prep work. However – I always keep on stitching new patterns!

State Road 522 is a roughly 40 mile stretch of road between scenic Taos and the Colorado border. My husband and I drove on this road in the summer of 2013 after visiting Santa Fe. Was it the most scenic road in New Mexico? Honestly, no. But Taos is charming and the road north of it was a fun drive into Colorado.

[Rio Grande Gorge in Taos by Casey Moore via Flickr]

I can easily customize this pattern for any of your favorite New Mexico state roads, and there are some really beautiful drives in the state.

[New Mexico Sunrise by AdventureMike via Flickr]

Whether you’re a New Mexican, a frequent visitor, or just a fan of the state, this New Mexico cross stitch pattern and kit would be a great way to create a reminder of a favorite drive or place in “The Land of Enchantment.”

This Florida cross stitch pattern and kit are the latest in my series of state highway road signs that are now available in my Etsy shop!

State Road A1A (Atlantic 1 Alternate) is a roughly 330 mile stretch of Florida coastline that starts in Key West and ends at Fernandina Beach, just south of the Georgia state line. It closely follows the Florida coast and is a designated National Scenic Byway. A1A also is the title of a Jimmy Buffett album, but that doesn’t have much to do with needlework…

[A1A Sunrise by Craig O’Neal via Flickr]

I can easily customize this pattern for any of your favorite Florida highways, and there are a ton of beautiful drives in the state.

I’ve enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere of Key West. The warm water and the scenery make it a great place to visit.

[Key West Sunset by Boris Milan via Flickr]

Whether you’re a Floridian, a frequent visitor, or just a fan of the state, this Florida cross stitch pattern and kit would be a great way to create a reminder of a favorite drive or place in “The Sunshine State.”

Florida is just the latest in my series of State Highway signs! Thus far, there’s Colorado (which is also a flood and fire relief benefit until the end of 2013), Alaska, California, Texas, Washington, and Michigan. Stay tuned for even more…

This Michigan cross stitch pattern and kit are now available in my Etsy shop!

The stitched example, Highway 22, is a scenic highway that runs for roughly 117 miles along the Lake Michigan shore, and passes through part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

[M 22 Scenic Highway Sign by Brandy Wheeler via Flickr]

I can easily customize this pattern for any of your favorite Michigan highways! Unfortunately, Michigan is one of the three states I haven’t set foot in yet, but I KNOW there are plenty of gorgeous roads in the state.

[Grand Traverse County Cherry Blossoms by shutterbug816 via Flickr]

I’ve always been particularly fond of the author Jean Shepherd, in particular his book A Fistful of Fig Newtons. In the book is a short story, “The Mole People Battle the Forces of Darkness,” which takes place at Camp Nobba-Wa-Wa-Nockee deep in the Michigan woods. I’ll have to investigate if that camp was based on a real place someday…

Whether you’re from Michigan, a frequent visitor, or just a fan of the state, this Michigan cross stitch pattern would be a great way to create a reminder of a favorite drive or place in “The Wolverine State.”

Michigan is just the latest in my series of State Highway signs! Thus far, there’s Colorado (which is also a flood and fire relief benefit until the end of 2013), Alaska, California, Texas, and Washington. Stay tuned for even more…